Entries categorized "Transportation"

Streetcar Celebration: Destination 4th Avenue, will be held on Wednesday, February 26 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm on Fourth Avenue near the 6th /7th Streets Streetcar stop.

Streetcar Celebration: Destination 4th Avenue is the second of several monthly streetcar celebrations to promote shops, restaurants, and entertainment and cultural attractions along the Sun Link streetcar line, in advance of passenger service in the summer of 2014. Visitors can see one of the new Streetcars up close, enjoy outdoor entertainment, and take advantage of specials and promotions provided by the merchants at participating businesses.

The event will feature:

A close-up view of one of Tucson’s new “Made in America” Sun Link modern streetcars, passing by and parked nearby.

FREE Live Music

Merchant Discounts and Events (see below).

To obtain discounts, please sign up at the Friends of the Tucson Streetcar Booth located near the 6th/7th Streets Streetcar Stop and you will receive your Friends of the Tucson Streetcar key chain or pin.

Fourth Avenue features 23 restaurants and cafes, 10 bars and pubs, over 35 locally owned retail shops, and a variety of salons and services.

Merchant Discounts and Events:

More to Come.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Tucson Streetcar and Fourth Avenue Merchants Association. The Friends of the Tucson Streetcar will be hosting similar events monthly near key stops on the Streetcar line, to showcase the many unique, local businesses and destinations within easy reach of the Streetcar. Look for Streetcar Celebration: Destination Downtown coming in March.

Carolyn's note: I attended the first Streetcar Celebration at Main Gate Square in January, and spent some time at the merchants in that shopping area, and saw the UA Pep Band perform with Wilbur & Wilma Wildcats dancing in the streets. Stop by tomorrow for this 2nd destination celebration, and see the modern streetcar up close, get your Friends key chain or pin, & check out the discounts.

At the Feb. 19 study session and evening meeting, the Tucson City Council will consider two issues that could greatly affect bus service in our town.

During the study session, they will consider a proposal to increase bus fares. At the regular evening meeting, they will hear public comments about the proposed redevelopment of the Ronstadt Transit Center. (Proposals and background here.) In between these two meetings, the Tucson Bus Riders Union will have a rally outside of the City Council Chambers, beginning at 4 p.m. (Details and related articles below.)

Pima County has long suffered from a lack of state revenue sharing for one simple reason: state revenue sharing goes to incorporated cities and towns.

Pima County has large areas of developed unincorporated land adjacent to the City of Tucson, which means that Pima County residents have long been subsidizing the state of Maricopa, nearly fully incorporated decades ago, with their tax dollars.

For as long as I have lived in Tucson, mayors of Tucson have promoted the concept of "mountain to mountain annexation" of the Tucson valley. This has always been met with opposition from the unincorporated areas adjacent to the City of Tucson, which has cost Pima County residents millions of dollars in state revenue sharing over the years for infrastructure investments.

The City of Tucson is not blameless. Back in the 1990s, Casas Adobes and Tortolita held incorporation votes, but state law at the time permitted an incorporated city to prevent incorporation within 10 miles of its city boundary. Tucson sued, and Casas Adobes and Tortolita lost in court. Again, this has cost Pima County residents millions of dollars in state revenue sharing over the years for infrastructure investments.

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild brings a new vision to this state revenue sharing problem: he continues to support annexation to Tucson but also the city will not oppose incorporation of unincorporated areas adjacent to City of Tucson boundaries.

When the Ronstadt Transit Center was constructed in 1991, it was billed as a community gathering place. Dance and music performances at the RTC were featured during Downtown Saturday Nights (pre-cursor to Second Saturdays but twice per month in its heyday). At the April public forum, dozens of speakers talked about improving the transit center, making it a focal point for community activities (as it once was), and building community-- not commercial develop-- at the site.

The big question is: in making its decision regarding the fate of the Ronstadt Transit Center, will the City Council listen to the 41-member Downtown Tucson Partnership or the thousands of Tucsonans who have voiced their opinion on this issue?

Today, May 17, a group of transit activists, downtown residents, and members of the Tucson Bus Riders Union will gather at the Ronstadt Transit Center in a community-building exercise. Wear white, bring your musical instruments, signs, and your community spirit to the RTC at 5 p.m. and let's see what happens. Meet under the clock, and don't disrupt the buses. This is a bus-friendly, community event-- not a protest.

With pressure from developers and the budget, the Tucson City Council once again is considering decisions which would reduce-- or at least hinder-- bus transportation.

Today, Tuesday, May 7, at the City Council study session, Councilwoman Shirley Scott is expected to propose a $2 million cut to Sun Tran services. The Bus Riders Union has sent out an action alert for citizens who want to preserve bus transportation to come to the study session, which begins at 1:30 p.m. Here is a link to the agenda.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 8, City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich will meet with members of the Bus Riders Union regarding proposed redevelopment of the Ronstadt Transit Center (RTC) at 5:30 p.m. in the library room of the the Armory Park Center, 220 S. 5th Ave. This event is free and open to the public. Please attend if you want your voice heard. (You can also send comments to busriders@tucsonbusridersunion.com.) More details and results from the bus riders survey after the jump.

In these times of calls for undefined smaller government and resistance to rescinding tax cuts, many Americans forget the role played by government-private sector partnerships in developing the nation's economy. In a country plagued by growing income inequality and aging infrastructure, the lessons from the past should not be ignored.

Over 150 years ago, there was a terrific need to improve communications between the eastern states and California. To remedy the problem, the federal government awarded a $600,000 per year contract to the Butterfield Overland Mail Company in September 1857. The contract was for six years.

Anyone who has lived in Tucson long enough knows that the vitality of downtown has ebbed and flowed with the winds of politics and the fortunes of capitalism.

Thanks to infrastructure investments, tax breaks, land deals, and the promise of Rio Nuevo college students with Daddy's credit cards, downtown is again on the upswing-- with swanky bars, over-priced restaurants, micro-breweries, maxi-dorms, and a modern street car to deliver college students to the main gate of the university.

With the smell of money in the air, capitalists are ready to play "let's make a deal" with Tucson's Mayor and Council. One city property that developers have been trying to score for years is the Ronstadt Transit Center, on Congress. Once surrounded by seedy bars, funky diners, and shoe-string art galleries, the Ronstadt Center is now in the thick of downtown's rebirth as Mill Ave South.

The U.S.-Mexico relationship has its good and bad points. Over $540 billion in merchandise trade moved between the countries in 2012. Mexico ranks third as an American supplier and second as an export market. There are security problems involving the massive illegal drug trade, illegal migration (mostly from Mexico and Central America) and the flow of smuggled firearms to Mexico. With Arizona's state leaders focusing mainly on security, the economic benefit of being a border state tends to be ignored.

SB 1215 is moving unobtrusively through the Arizona Legislature. The bill extends the life of the Office of Sonora (part of the governor's office since 1992) for eight years. The office works on exchanging information, promoting business and tourism with the state of Sonora, Mexico. It assists the Arizona-Mexico Commission and keeps tab on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Geography and road systems influence economic and military events. In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee made the decision to consolidate his army in a small southern Pennsylvania town where roads intersected. His decision had major consequences. It resulted in a battle that changed the course of the Civil War and made Gettysburg into a national landmark.

Infrastructure development played an important role as China became the world's second largest economy. Its massive road building program is on track to complete over 52,000 miles of expressways by 2020. Another 167,000 miles of rural roads will have been newly constructed or rebuilt. The road building program is government managed and financed. The program is years ahead of schedule, stressing domestic supplies. China produces about 16 million tons of asphalt a year while it uses 20 million tons. Imports have to make up the shortfall.

The lack of roads can serve sinister purposes. The rolling desert country southwest of Tucson is sparsely populated. Down Rt. 286, about 70 miles from Tucson, is the border port of entry at Sasabe. The small town of El Sasabe, Sonora sits across the border. Approximately 60 miles farther south is Altar with a population of about 8,000.

The New New Dealis a recent book by Michael Grunwald. It is
very interesting, important, informative, readable, thorough, and
persuasive. It revolves around the so-called Stimulus Act of 2009.
There are three parts to the story: (1) The economic collapse and the
election in the autumn of 2008; (2) the drafting and passage of the
Stimulus Act in the winter of 2008–2009; and (3) the implementation
and the consequences from 2009 to 2012.

I wish everybody would read this book, in order to know what was done
and how well it worked. This is important, because
many of the same policy issues are still with us, in connection with
today’s fiscal negotiations and in the longer term, forever. We need
public support for making the right decisions.

Steve Benen called this “the best book on the Obama presidency to
date.” It injects some desperately needed reality into the
discussion.

The Tucson Historic Preservation Association is sponsoring Tucson Modernism Weekend which begins this evening with a reception at the Chase Bank on Broadway (pictured here) and continues throughout the weekend with lectures, a car show, a mid-century modern style show, a pricey Mad Men cocktail party on Saturday night, and much more (schedule here).

No doubt, the preservation group has an ulterior motive for this three-day event focusing on mid-century modern style and architecture.

A stretch of Broadway Blvd. in midtown has been slated for major demolition by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) under a decades-old plan, which envisioned a different Tucson in 2012. Councilman Steve Kozachik and a group of citizens calling themselves the Broadway Coalition have been fighting the RTA's $71-million-dollar widening project and the demolition of 100 buildings, potentially including the Broadway Village designed by quintessential Tucson architect Josias Joesler (background here). Their goal is to scale back the Broadway project to better align it with Tucson's current needs and to protect historic modernist buildings.

To learn more about mid-century modern style, check out this weekend's events-- many of which are free.

It's such a great idea, it's almost a no-brainer. Keep a stretch of Congress Stret closed to traffic that's already closed to traffic due to streetcar construction. Don't open it when the tracks are laid. Instead, gussy it up a bit and turn it into a pedestrian space.

Congratulations to Mayor Jonathan Rothschild for proposing the idea. Let's hope the council gets behind him and makes it happen now, at a moment when it will cause the least expense and inconvenience. Want a better, more attractive downtown? A pedestrian space on Congress is a piece of the puzzle.

"OOPS!" UPDATE: When I originally wrote this, it was obvious to me that "Congress" meant Tucson's Congress Street. When I looked at it an hour later, I realized the headline, "Turn Congress into a pedestrian space!" sounds a little like a recommendation for how to fix things in D.C. As reasonable as that suggestion might be, it wasn't my intention. I regret the careless (but kinda amusing) confusion.

The bill introduced in the Arizona legislature to establish a 62 mile deep warning zone along the Arizona- Mexico border was eventually withdrawn by its sponsor. The objective of the bill was to alert residents and visitors to the dangers posed by illegal immigrants and drug traffickers in the zone, an area so large that it included Tucson. There were a number of problems with how the warning information could be distributed. The groups that viewed the measure as another unnecessary blow to an already testy Arizona-Mexico relationship also worked hard to get the bill pulled.

The arguments surrounding SB1070, the bill that made Arizona famous, have now been heard by the United States Supreme Court. A ruling is expected later this summer that could help clarify federal and local enforcement responsibilities. It could also make the situation murkier, complicating things even more for local police.

Down the Mexican coast on the Sea of Cortez, the port of Guaymas is undergoing a major expansion. Although located in Mexico, it should be considered by Arizona’s leaders as the state’s seaport. The good railroad connections and access to Interstate 10 give it excellent transportation links. The expansion of the U.S. Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, which will be completed by 2014, will also help speed up the flow of trade goods.

Unfortunately, the benefits of international trade are not appreciated by many in Arizona. Some in the state legislature are adamantly against linking the markets of Canada and Mexico by road through Arizona. They casually ignore the fact that increased trade flows would help boost the number of jobs in the state.

As an adjoining country, the U.S. has a long-term strategic interest in Mexico. Neither culture nor geography can explain the gap in living standards between Mexican and American cities along the border. It is an indication of something being out of kilter, a sign that the Mexican government has often gotten it wrong, tolerating corruption, discouraging investment, innovation, education and stifling economic development.

Mexico’s school system which serves 35 million students, trails in academic performance. It is a sad example of how not to prepare young people for the 21st century. Mexico’s students ranked last in math, reading and science tests conducted in 34 countries by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Security, illegal immigration, drug trafficking and weapons smuggling are important border policy considerations. At the same time, the U.S. should also be encouraging the fixing of institutional weaknesses that impede economic progress. Along with the other factors, the U.S. must push a policy that sows the seeds of economic growth in Mexico.

Although transfers are 12% lower than before the pre-crash peak, Mexico received over $22 billion in remittances from the U.S. in 2011. It is the country’s third-largest source of foreign income. Our national and state leaders need to remember that remittances are a valuable development tool. Their significance to developing countries is enormous. Remittances often have a greater impact than government aid because they don’t get entangled with corrupt local officials.

The public considers illegal migration to be a major problem in Arizona. Of the 10 states with the largest number of illegal immigrants, Arizona ranks 9th. California ranks first, followed by Texas, Florida and Illinois. The number of illegal migrants living in Arizona has dropped by 200,000, from a high of 560,000 to 360,000. The plunge in construction and tourism jobs triggered by the recession was a factor in causing many to leave.

Improved security has made the border harder to cross and the state has become a less attractive destination for those seeking economic betterment. As the recovery creeps forward, we need to get beyond the policing/enforcement mindset that rules our political thinking. We need to make economic development in Mexico an equally important component of our national policy. An improving economy in Mexico will reduce illegal immigration and benefit Arizona’s businesses and workers. Being a border state could turn out to be a real asset instead of a problematical liability.

Yesterday I wrote a long post giving another side of the oft-repeated -- and incorrect -- implication in the Star that the Gadsden Company made over a million dollars in a "land flip" OK'd by the Tucson City Council. The post was based on a long conversation I had with Jerry Dixon, Gadsden Company's Chairman. We talked about other related issues as well, which I'm writing about today.

NOTE: What I wrote yesterday is more important than this post, since it rebuts anti-city government and anti-Rio Nuevo misinformation which will certainly be part of the mayoral and city council races. If you have to choose between the two, read yesterday's post.

I found Dixon to be an intelligent and well informed person on a number of issues relating to Tucson, and an outspoken critic of the Star. He also had some interesting things to say about the relative business friendliness of the Democratic and Republican parties. I'll put that at the end of the post (Hey, they do it on the news channels, right? -- string you along through the show, promising a story they save for the final two minutes).

On the Star

Dixon not only thinks the Star's reporting on downtown is a mispresentation. He feels it impedes Tucson's growth by convincing people our growing downtown is a mess.

He told me his son lived in Tucson and saw the bad rap the city gets in the Star. Then he moved to Phoenix and found the AZ Republic is far more of a civic booster. The result: Tucson residents have a bad image of the city and the way it's run, and Phoenix residents have a better opinion of their city. The irony is, that's the exact opposite of the national perspective, where Tucson is high on a number of livability scales and Phoenix is portrayed as hot, crowded and unattractive.

"[Phoenix has] a bad national image," Dixon said, "but a great local press image. . . . It's just exactly the opposite of what we have here in Tucson. We have a great national image and a crappy local press on our case. I don't know what the deal is. I talked to the [Star's] editorial staff, and I think they think they're on some great investigative newspaper thing. If they could say something nice, they won't. If they can say something bad, they will. Our company got an $8.5 million new market tax credit allocation for the project we're building. That's the first one in Southern Arizona's history. It was a wonderful story. Bank of America awarded it to us because we're doing all the right things -- the right location, the right census tract, the small incubator business we're starting, projected to employ 93 people and generate $400,000 a year in sales tax revenue for the city. You would think that would be something where the newspaper would say, 'Hey, here's a good little business story.' They wouldn't even write about it."

The bad press bothers Dixon partially because some of it is directed at his company, of course, but he says the problem is much larger than that. He thinks our rebound from the current economic downturn will be slower because of the Star's incessantly negative coverage.

Dixon explained, "Here's the sad repercussions of [the Star's negative coverage of the city]. Our economic recovery time from this major recession we've all suffered is extended by those negative articles. . . . Those other cities that are pro-city in their public press will recover much faster than a city that has the negative press. [What they're writing] is not only hurtful today, it's going to cause us to recover slower than if they were positive."

On the Streetcar

The four mile streetcar, which Dixon told me will stretch from UA's medical center on the east to the Mercado San Agustin on the west, is reasonably controversial, and the Star seems intent on bad-mouthing it. Dixon is a big supporter of light rail. The senior citizen center to be built west of the freeway (the center of Brodesky and O'Dell's "outrage") will benefit greatly from light rail, according to Dixon. The residents will be able to climb on streetcars and take advantage of downtown amenities -- restaurants, shopping, movies, concerts -- as well as lectures and other events at the university. That's just one example. Lots of downtown's development will only happen because of the transportation access afforded by the streetcar.

Every city that has built light rail has seen real estate values climb along the line, according to Dixon, which means more tax dollars for cities and municipalities.

"As the land value goes up, people come in and build condominiums, they build restaurants, they build businesses. In today's reality with [increasing fuel prices], you have to consider the cost of transportation in your decision where you're going to locate your living area. . . . The university is going to award 1500 student housing units on the streetcar line. One of their criteria was, it had to be on the streetcar line. Our company is going to build somewhere between 500 and 800 residential units on our side of the freeway on the streetcar line. We want people to park that car and use that streetcar. We're willing to accept that real estate taxes will go up. That's the way it is, and that's the way it should be."

"TEP would not, in my opinion, have relocated to Broadway without the streetcar frontage," he continued. "I do not believe Providence Service Corporation would have relocated where they did off Broadway without a streetcar. I do not think Madden Media would have relocated into the MacArthur building one block off the streetcar line had the streetcar not been coming. I do not think there would be 12 new restaurants in the downtown core without those businesses being here and the workers wanting to have restaurants to go to. The fact that we spent $65 million taking the streetcar underneath the 4th Ave. overpass is just some of the hard core, heavy lifting the city had to do to make this even a possibility. My fondest hope is that three or four years from now, when the streetcar's running, the people from Austin and Portland and Milwaukee and some of the other cities that have really regentrified in a cool way will want to come to Tucson to see what we did."

Dixon and I talked about Portland's growth into a first rate city, which I witnessed during the 30 years I lived there before moving to Tucson in 2003. The light rail was a major part of the whole plan. The Pearl District, for instance, which is adjacent to the downtown core, was nothing but empty warehouses when I moved to Portland. It looked like a post-WW II bombed out city. Now it's like a new little Manhattan, filled with condos which were often bought up even before they were built. The streets are lined with shops, restaurants and markets, and the light rail that runs though it can carry residents all over the city. Without the rail, the Pearl wouldn't be the Pearl. Neighborhood denizens can park their cars for weeks at a time and do just fine, and other city dwellers can come to wander around through the art galleries, bookstores, fine furniture stores and restaurants, able to spend their money without searching for a parking spot. As you can imagine, the area, as well as downtown in general, have become tourist meccas, bringing in money and business and tax dollars for the city.

Dixon admits the streetcar will cause problems for business as it's being constructed, as I remember it did in Portland. "In the next 12 months," he predicted, "they're going to be tearing up the streets for the streetcar, and people will be angry for awhile, but I think the people who have made the investment today will be thankful when that is done."

On Democrats, Republicans, and the Pro-Business Party

We've been seeing signs of wariness among business leaders about the ideologically driven agenda of the Republican party. I've heard from Democratic legislators that business people come up to them privately and express concern about the harm Republicans are doing to Arizona's reputation and its future business prospects.

Dixon was willing to say openly what others are saying more quietly.

"I think the Democratic party in general and this [CIty] Council in particular are very, very pro-business," he told me. "What I've seen of the Republican party, which is supposedly pro-business, is not pro-business at all. . . . On the national level, I don't think they're pro-business either. I think it's the Democratic party that's taken that mantle away from them."

That doesn't mean Dixon is completely happy with the way the city of Tucson deals with business. He sees what he calls "some inefficiencies and financial disincentives." But he believes it's trying to improve. "I think the city is trying to get more pro-business. They have a ways to go, but I don't think they're anti-business at all."

The Arizona Daily Star has recently filled a real vacuum in local civil society by encouraging Tucsonans to take a closer look at what kind of place they want to live in the future. I have quibbles, of course, but they are to be commended for acting as a catalyst and resource for a community faced with some serious choices. There are deep divisions about our future course between those who seek to manage growth (either more or less) and those who believe the facts indicate that we are far past their point where we can just grow smarter, we need to stop growing.

The Star certainly provided some interesting raw data to chew on from their survey earlier this month. Admittedly, some of the questions were intolerably leading and biased, or just plain dopey. But there is some gold in there. I found some insights into Tucsonans' attitudes toward water, transportation, and development.

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